Weekly illustration of every Pope,from Peter to Francis.

70. Pope Honorius I 625-638

Oh this Pope…..this Pope caused all kinds of trouble. The patriarch of Constantinople supported the idea of Monothelitism,which suggested that Christ had both a human and Divine nature but only one will,a Divine one. The Catholic Church had always declared that this was heresy,because we believe that Christ had both a human and Divine nature and both human and Divine wills. The patriarch of Constantinople had hoped that the Church could compromise on this and it would help bring Monothelites into the Church. He wrote Pope Honorius about this and the Pope took a “yeah whatever” approach to it……here’s where the trouble began. His general lax attitude wasn’t an issue until his successor Pope Severius(and the next several Popes)took a hard line,or rather the Church’s line,and refused to accept this heretical idea about the nature of Christ. In fact,forty years after his death,a council declared ANATHEMA(!!)to Pope Honorius. Anathema basically means “damned”. The council damned Honorius and all of the other clergy who supported the Monothelites. This Pope’s actions also gave ammo to critics of the idea of Papal Infallibility. This means the Pope is infallible when it comes to the teachings of the Church. Pope Honorius squeaked by this because he never actually taught Monothelitism or tried to change doctrine,he was just lazy about calling it out for being a heresy. The next several Popes,up to the fearless Pope Saint Martin I,will more than make up for this dip in the character of our Holy Father.